Training the Mind
by Lythya
Summary: When scolded by her father, Hinata found herself at the training grounds. But there are more than one form of training when you're down. ShikaHina.


I recently read an essay concerning the pairing ShikaHina. Up until then I had interpreted ShikaHina as nothing more than a mere 'together for the sake of ironi' couple, since it would be fun for Shikamaru to end up with the only girl who isn't bossy.

But that essay really changed my mind about the couple, and I really like it now. Mostly I like it because of what was called the 'clean slate theory', a theory suggesting that since Shikamaru and Hinata has had no crushes or grudges against each other, they would be starting off anew with someone they had never really had an opinion of. That idea triggered it, because the foundation of multiple fanfictions was made. We get to be creative with the couple and CREATE their story, instead of taking what little we already have from canon and then just accepting what was given to us.

You're not supposed to understand the above rambling!

Before I go on with "off to the story!", I'll ask you to kindly refrain from bashing me for liking the couple, or the couple itself, simply because of the lack of canon evidence. It's crack, so I don't need anyone telling me. I like the couple, and if you don't like it, don't read. If you find the idea of ShikaHina interesting, do read on :)

Lythya

-

T R A I N I N G t h e M I N D

The training grounds looked exactly as they always had, except for the sunlight, bathing the scene in warm colors. The trunks all stood where they had always stood, though maybe they had been replaced once or twice.

She had her hands folded in front of her as she watched the beautiful view, breathing deeply after another hard training, staying long after her teammates had left.

Around her were scattered prints of Akamaru's claws, explicitly showing the chaos of their training. It had all been her fault, what with her being so clumsy and airheaded that her chakras would overflow, hurting poor Akamaru.

Sometimes she wondered if she should just become a regular shinobi, with throwing stars and kunais, but then again, she had only ever been mediocre with those. She wasn't a TenTen or someone blessed like that.

"Hinata?"

With a shrill gasp her feet stumbled around, making her face the spiky-haired guy Shikamaru. He held an unfolded scroll in his hand, and a pen in the other, as if he had been writing something, but then been disturbed by her presence.

She bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, was I a bother?" she asked cautiously.

She couldn't see it, but Shikamaru's face was puzzled.

"I was just wondering what you're still doing here. Don't you have a mission tomorrow?"

"Gah!" she burst out, jumping slightly. She wasn't sure what to make of herself. She'd never really spoken with Shikamaru other than briefing.

"Is anything wrong? You seem –"

She held up her palms, waving. "I'm fine, don't worry, really," she assured. He didn't look convinced at all. He rolled the scroll up and took a few steps closer to her, still leaving a few meters between them.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

She nodded, eager to make him get on with whatever he had been doing.

He wrinkled his eyebrows, then sighed, turned and began to walk away. She took in a deep breath and began to gather the few things she'd brought with her, so that she could get back to the Hyuuga dorm.

Shikamaru continued down the road he had been wandering, but now pondering something other than the index of the scroll. He couldn't help but think about something Shino had mentioned to him, and which had later been confirmed by lady Tsunade: that the Hyuuga clan was really as messed up as he had learned many years ago, and that the pressure on Hinata was growing heavier on her shoulders.

"Things are so troublesome," he mumbled to himself, opening the scroll once more.

-

When she was younger, Hinata had always been very good at her stuff in theory, but when it came to accomplishing things, and having expectations hanging over her shoulders, it was like a huge lobe shut around her senses and locked her away from all her knowledge and skill.

She would fail in missions, then work harder in training, fail again in the decisive hour, get scolded by her father and then work even harder.

Finally, all the hard training began to pay off, as she learned to keep her mind on track. She could never truly ignore the demands that she had behind her, but she could try, like a singer on a big stage, in front of a huge audience, pretending to be practicing alone.

Being a shinobi was different than being a singer, though. There were lives on the line.

Hinata had been called too kind many times, and a disgrace to the shinobi life. However, Hinata was not kind to her enemies, and fierce determination would lead her when needed.

That was not enough. There was something missing in her life as a Hyuuga, and not matter how many times she tried to fit in better, she failed.

She'd sought to the place she always went to when these situations emerged: the training grounds. She could already foresee a long, harsh training, leading to lots of scratches and bleeding.

She gritted her teeth and raised her palms to begin, when she heard steps behind her.

"You're here again," a dark voice stated.

She turned to face Shino, who looked at her through his dark sunglasses with a repentant glance.

"I'm sorry I was a bother on the mission," she apologized quickly. "I promise to do better."

"Hinata …" He shook his head. "You've been like before a lot lately. Did something happen in the Hyuuga clan?"

Her shoulders slumped, and she bit her lip as her cheeks flushed. She should have known he would figure it out.

"Come. Let's go for a walk," he suggested, turning around.

Thinking that a refreshing walk with a friend would probably do her more good than ripping her hands in shreds, she followed. They walked through the road into the forest, onward into the village and through the streets of Konoha.

A comfortable silence roamed between them, and Hinata felt relaxed in the presence of someone whom she knew had so much confidence in her, yet would never try to pressure her into anything.

"You can tell us, you know," he suddenly declared, and the stress returned immediately.

She replied stutteringly: "I … I know, but … I can't."

He remained silent from then on, till two uniformed shinobi encountered them.

"Shino," the one of them said. "A mission just came up that require the skill of the Aburame clan. I've been looking for you for a while, so you should hurry."

"What about Kiba and I?" Hinata asked, wanting to thank her friend by helping him with the mission.

"No need. Shino will go with another member of his clan," the shinobi assured. He turned and walked off with Shino right behind him.

"I'll be back soon, Hinata. We'll talk about it then."

As soon as he was lost in the crowd, Hinata realized the other shinobi hadn't left. She turned to him and realized that it was Shikamaru.

She bowed her head slightly in greeting and then quickly turned to walk away, but a few long steps – surprisingly long for the lazy Shikamaru, actually – brought him up in front of her.

"Hinata," he said in a voice that clearly stated how bothered he was by what he was about to say. "Would you care to play a game of shougi with me?"

She hesitated, not sure what exactly was going on.

Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Shino asked me to occupy you since he thinks Kiba is too insensitive," he summarized. "And Ino is on a mission with her father."

Her shoulders slumped and she looked away. "I should train," she excused, moving around him.

"Shougi is kind of like training too. Except not as bothersome," he proposed. She continued, though in a slower pace. He followed. "I'm sure you could use the strategy in the game to become a better heiress."

That was a cheap shot, and he knew it, but he had promised Shino, and he didn't feel like arguing.

When she turned towards him, he was prepared to scold himself for being so lazy, when his words had hurt Hinata, but he didn't see sorrow or anger in her eyes. Just some sort of determination.

She gave a slight nod. "I'll play."

-

They were sitting on the open patio with the game of shougi placed on a low table between them. Shikamaru sat with crossed legs, his head resting in his hand, while Hinata sat on her knees in a somewhat stiff position. She'd never been at another shinobi's home like this. Sure, she had seen where Kiba lived, and where the Aburame Clan dorm lay, but she had never been in it like this.

She realized that Shikamaru seemed much more comfortable than her with having someone in his house, and for a short moment, she pondered inviting someone into her own house. The thought was scary enough that she felt goose bumps rise on her arms.

Though Shino and Kiba had often been to the training ground of the Hyuuga dorm, they had only been there briefly to pick her up. She could not imagine inviting them inside. The disgrace –

She realized that she was aware of the fact that Kiba and Shino's presence in the Hyuuga dorm would only lower the other members of the clan's estime of her, and that she was acting based on this knowledge.

"Hinata," called Shikamaru, and she looked up in distress, forcing her eyes not to itch so much. Shikamaru made a gesture to the board between them, giving her the first move.

She reminisced the rules to him, and he confirmed that she had gotten the rules right. Then she picked up her chosen piece and the game had started.

Shikamaru had expected an easy game of shougi, where he could go over all of the troublesome scrolls in his mind, his mother's unpredictable mood, and what the best opportunity to get out of carrying out the garbage.

It was not an easy game. Hinata was a much better player than he had expected. Of course he won in the end, but it was a very long game when considering that it was Hinata's first time playing.

"Again?" she asked in an eager voice. Despite having lost, she apparently found the game intriguing. Figured. She was good at it.

"Sure," he said.

"You start this time. You won." She quickly put up the pieces, and he thought over her strategy in their last game. She was extremely good at keeping her pieces alive. She may not be aggressive, and it may take her a long time to get even a single victory, but she was sure to bleed as little as possible getting there. He had always been a person who would sacrifice the lesser fortunate pieces if necessary, but by an amazing strike of something he could not explain, he decided to play along Hinata's lines, just for once.

It was a long game.

With both parties reluctant to sacrifice to gain victories, progress came slowly. It came to the point where even Shikamaru began to become impatient, but Hinata didn't seem to be annoyed by this at all.

Letting out a sigh of frustration Shikamaru moved forth his knight, deciding to be more progressive. Hinata observed the move quietly and responded in an unpredictable manner.

She moved her own knight forward.

He straightened up, deciding to take the match more seriously. He couldn't lose to a girl, especially not a girl like Hinata. It seemed that though her façade was seemingly cute and innocent, there lied an accomplished and cunning demon, just waiting for the enemy to make the wrong move.

He almost laughed out loud at the thought of Hinata secretly being a demon, and he couldn't keep his lips from twitching.

She tilted her head questioningly to the side, but she didn't say anything.

Making his next move, he tried to hold on to the Hinata-demon theory. It might make it easier to beat her properly.

As he placed his knight on the place of hers – though now deceased – and throwing it back into the shougi box, Hinata spoke as the first in several minutes.

"Kurenai told me something curious."

He looked up. "Huh?" he asked.

Hinata picked up a piece, smiling shyly. "She said that you can think up about two hundred plausible scenarios for a given situation."

He scratched his head, looking at the piece in her hand. "Hmm … Don't know about that. I guess I do think the situation through a few times."

She blushed and placed the piece.

He looked at the shougi table, running through every move that could happen up to at least twenty rounds later given whichever piece he decided to move.

That was when he realized that about eighty percent of these scenarios would include Hinata taking at least one of his pieces, and in the last twenty percent there was still a high possibility of something similar happening.

Hinata-demon theory seemed less and less off.

He gave her a blameful glare, and she quickly averted her eyes.

The move he then made was exactly as he thought Hinata wanted him to do, and he expected her to take his knight, then move forward into his carefully planned out trap.

She moved her piece back.

"Why?" he asked grumpily, suddenly feeling like a child again, asking Asuma why he would do this or that strategy.

"The gentle fist technique," she responded, much to his surprise, since Asuma had never revealed much of what was on his mind – which didn't really bother Shikamaru, since when it came to shougi, he could figure most of it out. "It's founding strategy is 'avoid until the perfect moment'. When a 'perfect moment' arises, the gentle fist can do deadly damage, which will, doubtlessly, end the battle."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be hiding your strategies?"

She smiled shyly, looking down at the board.

"Right now we're opponents, and this is a match. I'm going to do whatever I can to win. But someday, on the real battlefield, you might need this Hyuuga strategy, either in a specific situation of need, or maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get to work with a Hyuuga squad. I could imagine Tsunade placing you in that position."

He gave out a moan. "Really, I'm not that good for anything like that. I don't get those kinds of strategies. I don't think Tsunade would ever place me in that situation."

Hinata shook her head silently, disagreeing without protesting.

He made an unenthusiastic move.

She copied his exterior.

"How's it like having those eyes?"

Shikamaru looked up at her with furrowed brows. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I was just wondering," Hinata responded.

"Well, it is as it is," he said. "I don't know what your eyes are like, so I can't explain how mine are different."

She didn't point out that she had merely asked how it was, and not the difference, but Hinata was not the kind of person to point this out.

"How is the vision of a Byakugan?" Shikamaru asked then.

Hinata pondered the question or her next move for a second, before taking one of his pieces and answering: "It's like there's always a shadow world behind everything. When my Byakugan is activated, I see things differently, but even when it isn't, I can see something … Things that you can't see."

"Like ghosts?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically.

She giggled. "When I was little, I thought it might be, but I didn't want people to know, because they'd think I was scared, and you know –" She stopped herself. A shameful blush colored her cheeks, and she looked back at the board.

He didn't say anything but simply made his move.

"I think it's like always being able to see clearly. Too clearly," she finally finished. "We can't ever look away."

He made another move and placed his piece in the gab of the trap she'd set up, in a moment of weakness, thinking it might cheer her up to claim one of his pieces.

She figured him out and didn't take the gift. Instead she moved her king one spot.

"Interesting," he noted.

"The king has to move, too," she told him, "or the people won't follow."

-

The sun was setting, and Konoha seemed like a huge bonfire, and the red roofs amplified the feeling.

Hinata stood at the doorstep to Shikamaru's house, thanking him for the two and a half games they had gotten through. She truly felt better, and she promised herself to thank Shino later for his insight.

"Thank you, Shikamaru," she said, bowing slightly. He scratched the back of his left heel with his right foot, leaning casually against the wall.

"No problem. I guess I deserved having to fight for the victory for once," he said, though he couldn't help feeling grumpy about not winning the last game also. From how they ended it none could be called the victor, and it was frustrating to him, the mere thought that she might beat him at it. He'd have to train harder.

That sounded troublesome.

"Please say hi to Ino for me, when you see her," she said, turning around and walking down the road, onto Konoha's streets.

Shikamaru watched her back, wondering what kind of home she was returning to.

Then, with a sigh, he walked back inside to play a series game of shougi with himself.


End file.
